Japan will join other Group of Seven nations and freeze the Russian central bank’s foreign-exchange assets, the Nikkei newspaper reported Monday — preventing Vladimir Putin’s government from accessing tens of billions of dollars held in Japan.
The Bank of Japan will freeze the yen-denominated assets it holds for Russia to stop them being repatriated or sent on to other financial institutions, the Nikkei reported, without citing anyone.
Earlier Monday, Prime Minister Fumio Kishida said Japan will join the international sanctions on Russia's central bank by limiting transactions with it, after telling Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy that Japan would stand by its side.